'Karen Pirie' Will Return to BritBox in October 2025

This has been the year of shows that debuted in 2022 finally getting their acts together for a Season 2: Andor on Disney+, Severance on Apple TV+, and now Karen Pirie on BritBox. The U.K.-focused streaming service has finally revealed the first look at the return of the critically acclaimed cold-case drama, almost a full year after it was announced that the series would go into production for three new episodes in July 2024. Considering that announcement came nearly a year and a half after ITV first commissioned a Season 2 for the show (which did very well in the U.K., if not in the U.S.), fans have been very patient. 

The first images are accompanied by a target release window in the U.S., although a specific date may not be confirmed. Over in the U.K., it's been common knowledge that the series would return in "Summer 2025," with most assuming that meant July. That has now been confirmed, along with the promise that 90 days later, the show will cross the pond, arriving sometime in October.

Lauren Lyle reprises her role as audience-favorite Detective Inspector Karen Pirie, with a riveting new case to solve. Season 1 was based on Scottish author Val McDermid’s first Karen Pirie novel, A Distant Echo; Season 2 will continue to adapt the series' novels in order, taking cues from the second Pirie book, A Darker Domain. 

(McDermid’s series currently runs seven books, with an eighth, Silent Bones, also arriving in the U.S. on bookshelves and kindles in October 2025, so there are plenty more seasons possible.) 

Here's the Season 2 synopsis:

After her bittersweet success in series one, Karen has been promoted to Detective Inspector and seemingly given the authority she has long been fighting for. Just as she’s getting into the swing of her powerful new role, she is assigned an infamous unsolved case that will put her under intense scrutiny, from her boss, from the media, and ultimately, from sinister forces that would rather the past stay in the past.

The 1984 case of Catriona and Adam Grant has confounded investigators and intrigued the public like no other. Catriona, the charming young heiress to a vast oil fortune, and her two-year-old son Adam, were brutally kidnapped at gunpoint outside a fish and chip shop in Fife. The ransom notes that followed stirred up an uncontrollable press storm, but when the culprits fell silent, the police faltered, and Catriona and Adam were never seen again. Now, a man’s body has been discovered, with indisputable links to the original kidnapping. 

With the first piece of evidence in decades, Karen must assemble an unbeatable team alongside her sincere and lovable sidekick, DC Jason ‘Mint’ Murray, and the brilliant–but–romantically–complicated DS Phil Parhatka. With the international renown of the kidnapping and the constant pressure from Catriona’s father, Sir Broderick Grant, the team takes on the biggest challenge of their careers to date. As Karen delves deeper into what happened in the autumn of 1984, political grudges and painful secrets reveal themselves, and it soon becomes clear… the past is far from dead.

Lyle will once again be joined by ensemble co-stars Emer Kenny (Father Brown) as River Wilde, Chris Jenks (Vigil) as DC Jason ‘Mint’ Murray, Zach Wyatt (Timestalker) as DS Phil Parhatka, Steve John Shepherd (Harry Potter) as DCS Lees, and Rakhee Thakrar (Sex Education) as Bel Richmond. The ensemble will also add Saskia Ashdown (Annika) as newcomer DC Isla Stark. 

Season 2's guest cast includes James Cosmo (His Dark Materials), Frances Tomelty (Unforgotten), and John Michie (London Kills) in the present day, along with newly announced additions James Fleet (Bridgerton), Tom Mannion (Mr Selfridge), and Tommaso Basili (The Good Ship Murder). 

The cast of the 1984 set era includes Julia Brown (World on Fire), Mark Rowley (One Day), Kat Ronney (Dinosaur), Stuart Campbell (The Winter King), Thoren Ferguson (Payback), Helen Katamba (The Nest), Jamie Michie (The Full Monty), Madeleine Worrall (We Were The Lucky Ones), Jack Stewart (Outlander), and Conor Berry (Dept. Q).

Emer Kenny once again pens all three episodes, with directors Gareth Bryn (Line of Duty) and Amanda Blue (The Gathering) splitting helming duties across the three feature-length episodes. Marcus Wilson (Luther) produces. McDermid and Kenny executive produce alongside Simon Heath and Emma Luffingham for World Productions.

Karen Pirie Season 2 debuts in the U.K. in July on ITV and ITVX. The series will follow on in the U.S. on BritBox starting in October 2025. Season 1 is available to stream on BritBox; Season 3 has not yet been commissioned.